1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to basins that are used to hold or catch water during the washing of a person's hair. In particular, the present invention relates to portable basins which permit the washing or shampooing of a person's hair while the person maintains an inclined or upright body position.
2. Prior Art Description
When the hair of a person is shampooed by another, the process is typically performed over a sink or bathtub. Professional hair salons typically perform the washing or shampooing of a person's hair over a contoured sink. To use a contoured sink, a person places his/her neck into a relief that is formed along the brim of the sink. Such positioning typically requires sharp backward bending of the person's neck. This is often inconvenient, uncomfortable, or impossible, particularly for hospital or nursing home patients with limited mobility. Additionally, such sharp bending of the neck results not only in discomfort due to increased pressure on the neck, but also in restriction of blood flow, which can lead to medical complications.
Recognizing that not all people are capable of having their hair washed over a sink. Devices have been invented that enable a person's hair to be washed while that person is sitting upright, or in a slightly inclined position. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,551 to Pasquarello, entitled Shampoo Apparatus, discloses a portable shampoo apparatus that is contoured to fit adjacent a person's neck and to facilitate the shampooing process. This device channels all water it receives to one point. Accordingly, as water flows down the head, it is immediately channeled away from the head. Consequently, the device must be used close to a sink that can receive the water. Having a sink close at hand is often impractical for bedridden people. Furthermore, since the device only channels water that falls from the back of the head, the system has a tendency to leak. This wets the clothing, linens and the bedding of the person having their hair washed. This is highly undesirable since it is extremely labor intensive to change the clothes, linens and bedding of a bedridden person.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,054 to Pasquarello, entitled Shampoo Device, discloses another shampoo device that partially fits around a person's neck. The device relies upon a belt-like closure for looping around the patient's neck to form a seal. The closure includes a tie string or the like to maintain the seal around the base of the patient's neck. However, this design causes water to flow toward the seal at the base of the patient's neck and collect, which creates a leakage problem. The seal around the neck cannot be made too tight for obvious blood flow and comfort reasons.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,745 to Magee, entitled Portable Shampoo Bowl, discloses a closed system which acts as a reservoir and does not require a patient to assume a position adjacent a sink. The Magee device is a complex multi-piece system which is coupled with a cape having a drawstring to facilitate a seal around the neck. The cape is fitted around the base of the neck beneath the device. The patient must keep constant tension on the drawstrings to prevent leakage. This is undesirable for unconscious patients or patients incapable of maintaining such constant tension, as leakage will result. Alternatively, more than one person would have to participate in the shampooing procedure to ensure that the patient's clothes remain dry, which is undesirable because of the time and costs associated with employing additional personnel to perform the shampooing procedure. Additionally, water is caused to flow toward the seal around the patient's neck and allowed to collect. This causes a leakage problem. This is ameliorated in part by the provision of a reservoir below the seal with the patient's neck. However, water in the reservoir makes the device heavy and unstable, which makes it difficult or impossible for patients to support and which increases the risk of water spillage due to instability of the reservoir.
Some of the problems associated with prior art hair washing basins have been addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,458 to McFadden, the inventor herein, entitled Shampooing Device. In the McFadden patent, a basin is described that seals to the body above the level of the water. Accordingly, the seal against the body produces little leakage. However, a strap is still used to make the seal. The use of a strap comes with the chance that the strap can be overtightened, therein causing restricted blood flow and/or discomfort to the person having their hair washed.
A need therefore exists for a basin that enables a person to have their hair washed while in an upright position that creates a watertight seal around the neck, yet does so without possibly restricting blood flow through the neck or causing discomfort. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.